Sexual Harassment Policy

Sexual Harassment Policy

Sexual Harassment Policy

Luna Community College is an academic community which seeks to foster the fullest development of peoples’ abilities and aspirations. The mission of Luna Community College can be realized only in an atmosphere of civility, mutual trust, and respect. Actions which diminish such an atmosphere shall not be condoned and tolerated.

The purpose of this policy is to inform all Luna Community College students and employees that sexual harassment is illegal and that the College will not tolerate sexual harassment of its students or employees, nor will the College tolerate unprofessional conduct which leads to sexual harassment. The College intends, first, to deter sexual harassment through the posting of the policy on the LCC Website, publishing the policy, secondly, implement corrective action of those individuals who disregard this policy. Employees are cautioned that a retaliatory action directed towards persons initiating complaints is unacceptable conduct. The College will provide appropriate educational materials and programs related to understanding and implementing this policy for students and employees which will be coordinated through the Human Resource Office.

Sexual harassment may be used to describe a wide range of behavior between students, between employees, or between students and employees. These behaviors are described in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines below. For students, the references to “employment” or “work” in the EEOC guidelines include the entire range of academic and non-academic functions of the college community.

The EEOC defines sexual harassment as: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when (1) Submission to such conduct is made either’ explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, (2) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

In determining what conduct constitutes sexual harassment, the question shall be determined from the perspective of a reasonable person of the gender and position of the person filing the complaint.

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964.

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.

The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.

The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.

Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.

A supervisor fails to take corrective action when he or she knows, or reasonably should have known, that a subordinate employee or student is being subjected to sexual harassment

The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.

It is helpful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should use the LCC complaint process or grievance system available.

Getting Help

Any student, employee, or job applicant who feels he or she has been sexually harassed should promptly report such incidents to the LCC Human Resource Director without fear of reprisal. In the event that the harassment occurs between two students, ACCESS Center should also be notified of the situation. All such reports, whether written or made orally, will be seriously reviewed. No employee, student, or job applicant who files a complaint in good faith shall suffer retaliation for filing the complaint. The college shall take necessary action to assure that there is no retaliation against persons who file complaints in good faith. The confidentiality of all parties involved in sexual harassment charge shall be strictly respected insofar as it does not interfere with the LCC’s legal obligations to investigate allegations of misconduct and to take corrective action. The Human Resource Department is responsible for investigating and resolving complaints of sexual harassment involving students, employees or applicants. For assistance, contact the Human Resource Office at 505.454.2502 or 454-2500 ext. 1063 or the ACCESS Center at 505.454.2562 or 454-2500 ext. 1213.